With the Mirage at or near the top of its class for fuel economy, Mitsu has organized multiple fuel economy/ecodriving competitions and demonstrations to highlight the car's efficiency.

These were typically held as part of the car's press launch events in various countries (e.g. Indonesia, Malaysia and New Zealand). The contests pitted members of the motoring press against one another to see who could get the best fuel economy driving on the same route.

The car has also been featured in a couple of long-distance economy runs where individuals or small teams took the car on extended highway drives (eg. Thailand, Switzerland).

Of the half dozen events we've discovered so far, the average fuel economy of the best team/driver's results is just a hair under 70 MPG US = 3.4 L/100 km = 29.7 km/L ...

These events used various drivetrains combinations: the 1.2L engine with both CVT and manual transmissions, and the 1.0L engine & manual tranny in the case of the Austrian event.

Conditions & skill level of the drivers varied. All these events were in hot or mild temperatures. Some events represented "real world" conditions with "typical" drivers and speeds, with the rules even requiring the air conditioning be set on the coldest setting. Others were held under more "ideal" fuel economy conditions or with expert ecodrivers/hypermilers at the controls, and the climate control presumably turned off.

No friggin way I can even ever get close to those numbers!! it's cold and very windy here. plus it's dangerous to drive under 80 km/h on 120 km/hour road when even the trucks are driving 95 km/hour just to get the best fuel economy!

Believe it or not, the conditions/routes in most of those Mirage fuel economy contests are similar to my own driving. I almost never drive in the city - I walk/bike most of the time (15 minute walk from downtown). So most of my driving is longer distances on secondary highways at moderate speeds. (Perfect for good fuel economy.)